Things Aren't Always As They Appear
by xxCarrie-Annxx
Summary: Troyella oneshot. Gabriella overhears Troy asking Kelsi out, but things aren't always as they appear.


This is just a really cute oneshot I came up with out of boredom. I'm not sure it's that good, but I'll let you guys be the judges of that.

Disclaimer: High School Musical does not belong to moi.

* * *

Friday afternoon, Gabriella Montez quietly walked up the stairs to the garden above the science lab. She found her best friend, Troy Bolton turned around, staring out into space as though he were in a trance, which gave her an idea. 

Gabriella tip-toed up behind him, being careful not to disturb him. She quickly covered his eyes with her hands and shouted, "Boo!"

"GAH!" Troy jumped and turned around to see Gabriella hysterically laughing at him.

"Don't scare me like that!" Troy said, his hand was holding his chest as he tried to steady his breathing.

"Well, if you didn't make such an easy target, I wouldn't be able to scare you, now would I?" she pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever." Troy said, pushing the argument aside, knowing that it was no use arguing with her.

"So, what's up?" Gabriella asked him, changing the subject.

"Oh, uh, not much." he answered, but something was up. Troy had been trying to ask Gabriella the same thing for a month now, but he was either interrupted or he would lose his nerve at the last minute. He figured that now was his chance.

"Gabriella, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you." Troy started, feeling his confidence decrease by the second.

"Ask away." she said.

"Gabriella, will you-" Troy hesitated before blurting, "explain to me the last problem of last night's math homework?"

Gabriella was a bit disappointed, but managed to hide it behind her smile. "Of course I will, Troy."

Troy sighed in relief. _'That was a close one.'_

* * *

"Kelsi, wait up!" Troy called down the hallway after his friend after school. He had a new plan as to how to ask Gabriella out, and since Kelsi was the only girl he could fully trust with doing this, he needed her. 

The red-head stopped and turned around, smiling. "Hey, what's up?"

Troy quickly ran up to her. "I need to ask you to do me a huge favor."

"Sure, what is it?" Kelsi asked him curiously.

Troy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Well… you know I like Gabriella, right?"

Kelsi nodded. "It's only the most obvious thing."

"And, you know I've been having a lot of problems with asking her out, right?"

Kelsi nodded again.

"Well, I was wondering if, maybe, you could help me out by giving me tips, since you're a girl, and you spend enough time with her to know what she likes, so could you please help me?" he asked.

Kelsi laughed a little when she noticed the desperate look on his face. "Sure, I'd be happy to, as long as this means that you two will finally get together!"

Troy looked around, relieved to find the hallway vacant.

"Ok, so what all do you need to know?" Kelsi asked him.

"Everything!" he answered.

Kelsi's eyes widened in shock. "You mean to tell me that the great Troy Bolton has no idea how to ask a girl out?"

"Well, with any other girls, I've never had a problem asking them out, it was pretty easy because I always knew they would say yes. But, Gabriella is a whole other story." he explained and leaned against a locker. "With Gabriella, I'm worried that she'll say no. With the others, they make it apparent that they like me, but Gabriella's…different."

Kelsi thought for a moment until an idea came to her. "Pretend I'm Gabriella. You can practice asking her out by asking me out, pretending, of course."

Troy rubbed his chin thoughtfully then smiled. "I'll try anything at this point."

"All right, ready to start?"

Troy nodded.

"Hey, Troy!" Kelsi said, starting a conversation with him the way Gabriella usually would by smiling sweetly at him.

"Uh, hey, um….Gabriella." Troy said unsurely. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you…"

* * *

Gabriella briskly walked down the hall from the chemistry lab after decathlon practice. She was hoping to catch Troy before he left after basketball practice. Down the hallway, Gabriella noticed two people standing in the hallway talking. As she got closer, she found them to be Troy and Kelsi. 

Smiling, she walked further down the hallway until she could make out what they were saying.

"…will you be my girlfriend?" Gabriella's mouth dropped in shock and total heartbreak when she heard this.

Kelsi laughed, "Of course, Troy."

"Thank you so much, Kelsi!" Troy said, smiling brightly, now feeling a bit more confident about asking Gabriella out.

Before Kelsi could respond, they heard someone sobbing, followed by the sound of running. They turned around and saw Gabriella running down the hall away from them.

"Gabriella!" they called down the hall, but instead of stopping, she ran faster.

"It's not what it looks like!" Troy called again, but by now, she was too far away to hear him.

Troy ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I'll go find her."

Just as he was about to run after her, Kelsi stopped him. "Don't, Troy, I'll go."

Troy nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." Kelsi said and ran after Gabriella.

* * *

"Gabriella, wait up!" Kelsi called after her just as she reached the main doors. 

Gabriella stopped and looked at her, hurt written all over her face.

"How could you?" she asked quietly, now looking down at the floor. "You know how I feel about Troy."

"Gabriella, it wasn't what it looked like!" Kelsi denied. "I know how much you like, more like love, Troy! I would never do that to you!"

"Then why did you agree to go out with him?" Gabriella questioned." You say you don't like him like that, so why did you agree to it?"

"Gabriella, just listen! I can explain-" Kelsi was cut off by the door slamming behind Gabriella as she ran off the school grounds.

"Gabriella!" Kelsi called, but it was no use.

Troy, who had heard the entire conversation from a nearby hallway, took off running after her.

* * *

"Stupid Troy." Gabriella muttered as she kicked a small pebble into the pond. She had gone to the park, which was where she always went when she was upset. Usually, she would have confided in Troy, but seeing as he was the source of her distress, she didn't want to talk to him. 

"Gabriella." Gabriella turned around to see who was behind her, only to find Troy a few feet away.

"Gabriella, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked her in a gentle tone of voice.

Gabriella tried to find the anger that she had a few seconds ago, but she couldn't.

"Fine." she said, reluctantly giving in.

"I technically didn't ask Kelsi out." he started.

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Troy, I heard it with my own ears."

"Yeah, but you got it all wrong." he said. "I needed Kelsi's help asking the girl I really like out, and she agreed to help me, that's all."

"Why would the great Troy Bolton need help asking a girl out?" she questioned.

"Because this girl isn't just any ordinary girl." Troy said, feeling his confidence rise as he came closer to her until he was right beside her.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, trying to hide her hurt and disappointment. "How do you get that?"

"Well, she's everything I've ever wanted in a girl and more." he explained. "She's smart, she's beautiful, she's caring, she's talented, she's-"

Gabriella couldn't take it anymore. She started walking away, hoping that he would stop, but to no avail.

"She's nice, she's sweet, she's just all-around wonderful." he finished.

"Yeah, Troy, that's really nice." Gabriella said disappointedly, knowing that there was no chance of it being her.

Troy quickly walked over to her a spun her around to face him, but kept his hands on her waist. "I heard what you told Kelsi earlier, and I just wanted to let you know that I feel the same way."

Gabriella's mouth dropped in shock. While she tried to register what he had said in her mind, she failed to notice Troy's face leaning closer and closer to hers. Before she knew it, their lips connected for the very first time. Gabriella deepened the kiss by wrapping her arms around his neck, while his wound further around her back. They stayed like this for a few minutes or so until the need for air was apparent.

"So, Gabriella, does this mean you'll be my girlfriend?" he asked her, keeping his arms firmly around her.

Smiling, Gabriella nodded. "I would love to."

* * *

From not too far away, a certain auburn-haired girl watched with a wide smile on her face as the new couple leaned in for another kiss. 


End file.
